The car wasn't at the park.

"I don't know, Fred," Lizzie repeated for the umpteenth time. The walk to the park had helped calm her nerves, but Fred's questioning was driving her over the edge. "I don't know where it is and asking me if I'm sure again isn't going to help me remember! We'll just have to take the bus."

They had to walk five blocks until they came to a bus stop that wasn't deserted. It made sense that if no one could see her, standing at an abandoned bus stop wasn't going to get them very far. Lizzie moved to stand at the back of the bus in the aisle, so as to not get sat on if she took a seat. They got off the stop before her apartment, not wanting to risk no one else getting off there and then be forced to walk back even further.

Fred found all the walking mind-bogglingly tedious, accustomed as he was to just popping in and out of where he wanted to be, but he tried to put on a good face for Lizzie. When they finally reached her apartment it was evening, and she found not only did she no longer have her keys, but she seemed to have a hard time even gripping the doorknob. As when she tried to shake her mother, her hand seemed almost to miss it's mark and she couldn't grip it to turn it. Fred watched her try a few times and then reached over and turned the knob himself. Locked. He could see Lizzie's resolve start to crack.

"We'll have to break the window," he heard her whisper. Watching her fumble with the doorknob had given him another idea though. Before he could think about what a stupid plan it would be if it didn't work, he put his hands on Lizzie's back and shoved her into - and through the door.

"Ha! Well, that takes care of that!" he said brightly as he joined her on the other side. He had unfortunately forgotten however the impact that it might have on an otherwise normal human to find that they can suddenly pass through walls. Lizzie fell to her knees and held her head in her hands and started to cry softly.

"Hey, hey, Snot-face," he said kneeling down to her level. "This is awesome! Just think of all the fun you can have now!"

Lizzie, unmindful of what Fred had been saying, raised her head and fixed her brown eyes on Fred's blue ones, "Fred...Am I dead?"

He held her stare for a moment before he answered, a quick grimace belying the jovial words he spoke next. "Dead? You don't feel dead to me!" he said poking her rib and causing an unconscious laugh to escape her otherwise tearful demeanor. "No Snot-face," he said more seriously, "I don't think you're dead. But...I think you need to think about this in a different light. What if this is some weird dream that you're having or something? You should be having fun!"

"I've never had a dream that was so real before, or that I was so exhausted in," she said. "I've got to sleep." With that she slowly stood up from the floor and made her way to the bedroom. The door was closed. She shook her head in resignation as she tried and failed to open it. "Fred, would you.." He opened the door for her. She sat down on the bed and proceeded to take off her shoes and change for bed.

"Um...Snot-face.."

Lizzie glanced up surprised to see Fred - was he blushing? "What's wrong?" she asked suspiciously.

"Um...well...you seem to having a bit of a problem holding onto things right now. I was just thinking that you... well," he stammered, "you might not want to change out of your clothes because you might not be able to..."

"Oh!" She felt a mirroring redness creeping into her own face. "Yeah, I...that probably wouldn't be a good thing." She finished taking off her shoes and stood up, intending to turn back the covers. Fred beat her to it and tucked them around her after she lay down.

"Fred"

"Yeah, Snot-face?"

"If this isn't a dream, will you still be here when I wake up?"

Fred smiled warmly. "I'll be here. Now get some sleep!"

It didn't take long before she was sleeping peacefully. Fred took the opportunity to pop back to Natalie who was also just getting into bed.

"Hey Snaggle-tooth! How'd you do with the Wicked Witch of the West today? Are her eyes red?"

Natalie giggled happily. "Fred! Yeah! You should'a seen it! When she put her contacts in it looked like her eyes were full of blood!"

"Way to go!" he said giving her a high five. "I'm sorry I missed it. I had to help a friend for a while."

"That's okay, Fred, I didn't mind. Daddy says we're going to get ice-cream after school tomorrow! Are you gonna come with us?"

Fred sighed, "I'm afraid I can't. My friend still needs some help if that's okay with you."

"Is it Lizzie?" Natalie asked.

Fred was surprised that she'd guessed who it was. "Yes, it is."

"That's okay, Fred. I like her, tell her I hope she gets better soon."

Fred waited until Natalie had fallen asleep and then popped back into Lizzie's room to check on her. Convinced she wasn't going to stir for a while he went back to her living room and lay down on the couch. He was asleep before he knew it.

Fred was dreaming. Just bits and pieces really, but nearly every night it was always the same. The scene played out over and over - children laughing, and the sound of music. Then the fire and screaming would come and he would wake, his heart racing, remembering nothing of his dream but with an overwhelming sense of having forgotten something of vital importance.

Tonight was no different. He sat up, taking in his surroundings and shaking off the uneasy feeling. He supposed that since he was still on Lizzie's couch that would mean that the previous day's events hadn't been some strange sort of dream.

He got up and wandered into the kitchen to check the contents of her fridge. Blech! Nothing but healthy crap. He spied a muffin wrapped up on the counter top and settled for that instead. He didn't need to eat, physically he never actually felt hunger, but the act itself Fred found oddly comforting. He tried not to dwell on the fact of what absolute nonsense that was. He had discovered long ago that trying to answer 'why?" questions concerning himself brought on a slew of emotions not associated with being a child's carefree imaginary friend, therefore he dutifully avoided such lines of thinking.

He finished his snack and then popped into Natalie's room to check on her. He tucked the covers back around her where she had kicked them off then left and popped into Lizzie's room. She slept soundly, knees curled up towards her chest, cheek pillowed on her hands which lay folded together beneath them. If he squinted, she still looked like the child he had known so many years ago. He reached over to tuck an errant strand of hair behind her ear then leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.

"Good-night, Snot-face," he whispered and popped back into the living room.

A/N: One thing I noticed when I re-watched the movie in prep for writing this story is that Lizzie and Fred are pretty touchy-feely with each other. He hugs her and takes her hand, etc. and they seem really comfortable around each other (in a platonic sort of way.)